


Hope is the Best Birthday Gift

by ImpyTricky (rychuu)



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Party, Implied Kiruma, M/M, just Kokichi being Kokichi, mentions of sex but not really, vr au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 21:02:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20841953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rychuu/pseuds/ImpyTricky
Summary: It’s Kokichi’s first birthday after the Killing Game has ended. He’s not expecting anyone to show up.





	Hope is the Best Birthday Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Includes an appearance of an OC of mine, Ranji Kumar, who is Kokichi's adoptive father.

Breathe. In, and out.

In, and out.

Kokichi wasn’t even sure what possessed him to even make an  _ attempt _ to reach out to his former classmates after they had drifted apart from one another. Things hadn’t even gotten better for him–he mostly locked himself in his room, unable to do anything but sit and stare at the ceiling and sometimes wondering if it would ever start moving.

His family, D.I.C.E., insisted he try to reconnect with his friends and invite them to a small get together for his birthday.

Kokichi was absolutely sure that no one was going to even show up.

There he sat, on a couch that was old and worn but still comfortable and cozy, kicking his feet as he did everything he could to avoid looking up at the door. His eyes would drift anyway, despite his attempts. He had asked the others to come to his house at 3:00 PM sharp. It was already 3:10. Kokichi toyed with the cuffs of his sleeves, not used to wearing a dress shirt and pants with matching shoes. He felt a little ridiculous.

Anxiety bloomed in his chest and he was tempted to retreat back into his room. Kokichi hadn’t expected anything more that this, but he was still somewhat  _ hoping _ that  _ someone _ would–

The door bell rang.

The chime made Kokichi jump, straight from sitting on the couch and onto his feet, and he made his way towards the door.

He paused for a second, holding his breath. Kokichi took a moment to compose himself, forced out a smile, and opened the door.

He was met with a familiar pair of yellowish gray eyes.

“Ah, Kokichi,” Shuichi said, seemingly a bit surprised. “Hello.”

“Shuichi!” Kokichi chirped, grinning. “Glad you could make it! You’re laaate!”

“Ah, I’m sorry for that…” Shuichi bowed his head, cheeks flushed up a light shade of pink. “But… it was a bit difficult to find your house…”

“Oh? Was it?” Kokichi moved out of the way for Shuichi to step inside, tilting his head all the while. “What makes you say that?”

As Shuichi came inside, he took off his shoes and jacket, hanging the latter on the coat rack beside the front door. “Well, the address was misspelled…”

“Wha–seriously?!” Kokichi closed the door, frowning and brows furrowed. “Aw man… no wonder why no one else is here yet…”

“It’s okay, I can text them all the right address now.” Shuichi, upon saying so, immediately pulled out his cell phone. “Kaede has a recital until five, however, so she won’t be here until around dinner time. Gonta, Miu, Keebo and Kaito are probably on their way here but lost…”

“Ah…” Kokichi swallowed a nervous laugh down. “So they’re… coming, then?”

“Yeah, at least, that’s what Kaito said.” Shuichi muttered quietly, more focused on texting than speaking. “He’s driving them. Gonta and Miu needed rides and Keebo was with Miu.”

This made Kokichi grin widely as he flopped down onto the couch. He even winked at Shuichi. “Getting ‘maintenance’ done, right?” 

Shuichi nearly dropped his phone from how startled the comment made him, his face darkening as he learned his throat. “They, um… Keebo and Miu, they… seem to be a couple, I think…”

Kokichi snickered at Shuichi’s embarrassment. “Ha! Go figure. Miu’s a robot fucker for real, now.”

“K-Kokichi…!” Shuichi reached up to his head to grab at his hat, and pulled it over his face. “D-don’t say things like that…!” 

“Okay, but it’s true!” Kokichi sang. “Miu’s a robot fucker! Miu’s a robooot fuuuckeeeeer!”

_ “Kokichi!” _ An elder man’s voice tore through the air, and a short, bald man with a strange accent poked his head from the kitchen. “Watch your language!”

_ “Haan pitaajee!” _ Kokichi replied, jumping off of the couch and peeking down the hallway. “Pitaajee, Shuichi’s here!”

_ “‘ _ Pitaajee’ _ …?” _ Shuichi echoed, eyes narrowed slightly. 

Kokichi turned to Shuichi and grinned. “It means ‘Dad.’ Ranji is my dad!”

Kokichi turned his attention back to the kitchen, and cried out; “Daaad! Did you hear me?  _ Pitaajee, mere dost yahaan hai!” _

“Yes, yes, I heard you!” There was no annoyance or malice in the deep voice that came from the kitchen, only a slight warmth. Though Kokichi heard metal clanging against the ground and incoherent Hindi.

“Hey! Dad, you can’t yell at me for bad language when  _ you’re _ cursing like a sailor in there!”

There was a pause, but then a rich laughter. “I’ll be there in a minute! I’m just finishing dinner!”

“So I’ll see you in like, two hours?” 

Shuichi had sat himself down on the couch by that point, curiously watching as Kokichi interacted with his father. Once the exchange was over and Kokichi was facing him, he asked; “Kokichi… are you adopted?”

“Hmm?” Kokichi tucked his arms behind his head, grinning. “What makes you ask?”

“You’re father…” Shuichi’s voice trailed off for a moment before he cleared his throat. “The way he spoke… it was sort of odd…”

“Hindi is his first language.” Kokichi clarified, sitting next to Shuichi. “He speaks Japanese and English well enough, but he’s not completely fluent… and yes, I’m adopted.” Kokichi huffed and waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t ask, it’s kind of a long story.”

Shuichi stared at Kokichi with widened eyes. “So… you speak…. Hindi?”

“Yup! Oh, I also speak Japanese, English, Spanish, some Chinese,  _ very _ little Russian–”

Kokichi cut himself off when he saw Shuichi staring at him with narrowed, skeptical eyes.

“What? It’s true!” Kokichi whined, crossing his arms. “As an Ultimate Supreme Leader, I  _ have _ to know how to speak in a bunch of languages! How else am I gonna talk to my subordinates all across the world?!”

Shuichi started chuckling, trying to contain his laughter by pressing a curled finger to his lips. “You mean, all  _ ten _ of them?”

“Excuse me!” Kokichi huffed. “You mean ten  _ thousand! _ Rude!”

The banter was all in good fun, both of them snickering and laughing. Though soon, a buzz distracted Shuichi from their conversation.

“Ah… It looks like Kaito and the others are going to be a while…” Shuichi frowned. “They are about twenty minutes away.”

“Wow, did dad write the addresses on the cards  _ that _ badly?” Kokichi pouted. “Next time,  _ I’m _ the one writing them…” Kokichi paused for a moment, before he glanced up at the ceiling. “So… Who else is coming?”

“Hm, well…” Shuichi glanced down at his phone. “I know Ryoma wanted to, but… he was unable to leave prison for the occasion. He might be able to call you later to wish you a happy birthday. Kirumi hasn’t really kept in touch, Angie moved back home after the killing game ended… Rantaro is traveling across the world, I think. Himiko and Tenko might make it, but they’re not sure.”

Shuichi hesitated for a moment, glancing away from his phone and Kokichi to look at the ground. “Maki is… well. I doubt you even invited her. I wouldn’t know, me and Kaito have sort of lost touch with her. Kiyo and Tsumugi are also in jail for their crimes, and I doubt they even know it’s your birthday today…”

Kokichi kept his face flat and neutral as Shuichi spoke. Then, he forced out a grin. “I see. Well, that’s a lot more people than I was expecting to come anyway!”

“R-really?” Shuichi blinked, turning to face Kokichi again. “Who were you expecting to show up…?”

A pause, then a laugh. “Ha! Nobody! All of you hated my guts before, so I wasn’t expecting any of you to show up or even  _ want _ to come!”

Before Shuichi could remark on it, however, Kokichi worked up his signature crocodile tears. “But it’s a lie! I thought  _ everyone _ would come, and now I’m sad that not everyone is coming! Waaah!”

“… Did you really think  _ none _ of us were going to show up?”

Shuichi had seen right through his act, and Kokichi dropped the tears immediately. He remained silent.

Shuichi frowned, staring at Kokichi with eyes glimmering with concern. “Do… Do you really think we  _ hate _ you?”

“Nope! I said it was a lie already, didn’t I?” Kokichi pressed a finger to his lips, smirking. “Why would I send out invitations if I didn’t think anyone was going to show up? Besides, it’s  _ clear _ that you guys can’t get enough of me!”

Shuichi only started at Kokichi in silence, frowning. His eyes flickered over Kokichi’s features, as if he was searching for something, before he gave a soft sigh. “Well, in any case… I don’t hate you, Kokichi. I never did.”

Kokichi forced out a laugh. “I already knew that, you silly.”

Shuichi said nothing, but Kokichi could tell he wasn’t at all convinced.

They remained silent until the doorbell rang again, and more guests arrived for the small party. Awkward encounters lightened up once Kokichi’s father came from the kitchen and presented everyone with food to eat, to which everyone learned the hard way why some of Kokichi’s favorite foods were incredibly spicy.

Shuichi had started eating one of the lesser-spicy dishes prepared and yet finding it hard to swallow even that, despite the otherwise amazing favors. Kokichi was laughing and teasing Kaito for being a ‘spice wimp,’ Miu was being her usual foul-mouthed self, even with K1-B0 at her side. Gonta was just happy to be a part of it all, and Ryoma called a little later to wish Kokichi a happy birthday. As Shuichi watched Kokichi, he noticed his shoulders loosen up and his smiles became more and more genuine. Soon the rest of D.I.C.E. showed up with gifts and a pinata for Kokichi to take a swing at.

As Kokichi mingled with the other guests, Shuichi found himself sitting on the couch next to Ranji, drinking a glass of water while Ranji had himself a glass of what Shuichi assumed to be wine.

There was an air of satisfaction around them, before Ranji finally muttered under his breath; “I haven’t seen Kokichi this happy in a long, long time.”

The words took Shuichi by surprise, and he turned to face the older man. “Huh?”

“Kokichi. Ever since he came home, he had locked himself in his room and ate very little,” Ranji said. He was smiling, but there was a hint of sadness to it. “He wouldn’t even drink his favorite soda for a while. He didn’t want to talk about anything to anyone. This is the first time I’ve seen him with his friends and smiling like this since he’s been home.”

Shuichi turned to face Kokichi, whom had started to pinch Kaito’s cheek in an attempt to rile him up–and sure enough, Kaito swallowed the bait, and began to chase him across the house.

“I am very happy that you and your friends have decided to come today.” Ranji smiled a bit wider. It looked a lot more genuine. “I think he very much needed this.”

Shuichi smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I think he did, too.”


End file.
